AURORA, colo. — Two people were killed and three others seriously injured after two separate crashes in Aurora Saturday evening.
The pair of two-vehicle crashes occurred around the same time, 6:45 p.m. Saturday, and happened near Buckley Air Force Base – north of the base and southeast of the base.
The unrelated crashes killed two men — 60 and 61 years old — and seriously injured two teens and an adult.
The first crash reported to police occurred on East Stephen D. Hogan Parkway, between East 6th Avenue and South Picadilly Road, north of Buckley AFB.
A 60-year-old man driving a Toyota Tundra pickup was pronounced deceased at the scene. An 18-year-old woman driving a Honda Fit was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Police believe the 18-year-old driving the Honda westbound on E. Stephen D. Hogan Pkwy. veered into the eastbound lanes for an unknown reason and collided head-on with the Toyota, killing the driver of the Toyota, who police said was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.
Police said alcohol and drugs are not suspected to have been a contributing factor in this crash. No arrests have been made and they said the case remains an open and active investigation.
Just two minutes later, a second two-vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of East Iliff Avenue and South Tower Road, southeast of Buckley AFB.
A 61-year-old man driving a Chevy Equinox was pronounced dead at the scene. A 25-year-old man who was driving a Chrysler 300 and his 19-year-old passenger survived the collision and were transported to a local hospital in serious condition.
According to police, prior to the crash, the Chevy was traveling southbound on S. Tower Rd. and the Chrysler was traveling northbound. The Chevy made a left-hand turn to go eastbound on E. Iliff Ave. when it was struck by the Chrysler.
Investigators are looking into whether or not excessive speed was a contributing factor in this collision. No arrests have been made and police said the case remains an open and active investigation.
The names of the deceased are not being released at this time and will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office once they have been positively identified and their next of kin have been notified.